


Released

by kaitscribbles



Category: Ocean's Eleven (2001)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-11
Updated: 2011-08-11
Packaged: 2017-10-22 12:03:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/237814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaitscribbles/pseuds/kaitscribbles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The world takes some adjustment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Released

Danny had spent four years deliberately not thinking about the way Rusty dropped to his knees with that long, graceful slide. The way he tilted his head and glanced up through half-shuttered eyes, the way his tongue skated across his bottom lip, and the way he smiled like nine different kinds of sin just before he leaned forward.

Danny hadn't thought about it because hello, four years didn't need to feel like forty. He'd put it all right out of his mind.

So he supposed it was okay that he hadn't thought about anything else since he walked into the club.

.

The bass thump was the first thing that threw him off. How it vibrated in the middle of his chest. Then the shifting press of people around him. It wasn't hot, the air wasn't close, but he was already breathing faster.

 _(four years)_

He got a drink, quick, and found a place in the corner. Disgusted with himself before his shoulder even touched the wall, because Jersey prison habits in Hollywood? Stupid. He knew better. The bartender's citrus knife was the most dangerous thing in this room.

He still felt calmer with no one behind him.

Either the waitress was very efficient or he hadn't lost his touch. He had another drink before the first one was gone. He smiled at her, and tipped ten. The whiskey felt good, rough and smoky, reminding him that he wasn't inside anymore. Tipping felt good. Women who didn't wear blue shirts and dark pants and who smiled back at him, that felt better. He wasn't inside anymore.

Danny watched the room and counted down, giving himself ten more seconds to straighten up and quit acting like an inmate.

He was on three when a familiar blond head made him forget about numbers entirely. His eyes tracked Rusty's angle of movement and... there. The kiddie poker school was back there.

Two minutes later he was moving easily through the crowd and it didn't make him nervous anymore, and neither did the noise.

.

He'd always been good at reading group dynamics. He'd gotten better in prison.

The Grace kid was the one the others listened to. Once he decided that Danny was cool, not a starstruck fan or a paparazzi on the job, he was in. The others made room at the table without hesitation.

Danny'd had to do homework on Rusty's poker group because Josh Jackson was the only one he would've recognized without it. Two years on cellblock E with Bruiser. When the biggest guy in the rec room wanted to watch _Dawson's Creek_ , everyone shut their mouths and watched _Dawson's Creek._ He suspected an enterprising soul could bring a lawsuit against the State of New Jersey for post-release psychological treatment for that.

It didn't take him long to figure out that Topher was sleeping with two of the other boys, neither of whom knew about the other. And that the girl was so stoned she probably couldn't tell a heart from a diamond.

Whatever Rusty was getting paid for this, it wasn't enough.

Danny saw him in the doorway from the corner of his eye, but he kept his head down and played with the chips until Topher said, "Oh hey, Rus," before looking up.

.

They didn't say anything during the walk to the car.

The comments in the game had been surface, just noise to draw the money out. And Rusty's smile had a definite edge throughout the whole thing. Danny could feel himself tensing as he climbed into the convertible.

He barely had time to turn as Rusty hit the seat on one knee and leaned over him. One of Rusty's hands braced on the car door and the other wrapped around the back of Danny's neck, and then his mouth slammed down.

It wasn't soft. It was fast and aggressive, Danny fighting to match him, trying not to moan into Rusty's mouth, and none of it mattered because Rusty was doing whatever he wanted, hot and wet, his lips brutal and his tongue just driving against Danny's, making him shiver, making him finally give in and let Rusty control it because this wasn't really about the kiss at all. It was about Rusty yelling at him and Danny deserving it.

It was _Incan matrimonial fucking headmasks_ and _stupid bastard_ and _four goddamn years, Danny_ and _don't ever fucking do that again_ and _I missed you, okay, I missed you._

Rusty broke the kiss as abruptly as he'd started it but he didn't move away. Leaned his forehead against Danny's and stayed there, fingers clenched in Danny's hair. Danny held absolutely still and kept his eyes shut tight. Rusty's breath ghosted against his cheek. His own hands were twisted into the lapels of Rusty's jacket and he knew better than to move them anywhere else, even though he was hard as stone and desperate for more, his whole body screaming, but he knew better. They were still talking.

Rusty's silence said, _do you hear me?_

His own said, _I'm sorry._

Rusty relaxed all at once. His fingers loosened against Danny's neck. _Okay._

Opened his eyes as Rusty let go and slid away behind the wheel. His hands twitched at the loss of that silky jacket, but it was fine. He could wait. Those small lines of tension was gone from the corners of Rusty's eyes, and... Danny decided he wouldn't think about the lips again until they'd talked business. The casinos were the other half of his apology and he was going to do it right.

But hey, four years. They were a few blocks down Vine before he managed to get his heartbeat under control.

Rusty stretched a little. Let his arm brush Danny's where it rested on the back of the seat. He glanced over, just long enough for Danny to catch the tiny smirk. "God, I'm bored."

"You look bored."

"I _am_ bored."

Danny resisted the urge to laugh out loud. Because this was good, this was everything he'd been missing, this was home, he and Rusty and the beginning of Rusty asking him what the next play was going to be, and it would all go exactly right.

He wasn't inside anymore.


End file.
